1. Field
This disclosure relates to the detection of a gesture in a sequence of ordered points, and in particular relates to the use of such a detection to control a media device.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Initially, televisions were controlled using predefined function buttons located on the television itself. Wireless remote controls were then developed to allow users to access functionality of the television without needing to be within physical reach of the television. However, as televisions have become more feature-rich, the number of buttons on remote controls has increased correspondingly. As a result, users have been required to remember, search, and use a large number of buttons in order to access the full functionality of the device. More recently, the use of hand gestures has been proposed to control virtual cursors and widgets in computer displays. These approaches suffer from problems of user unfriendliness and computational overhead requirements.
Two types of gestures which may be useful include a circling gesture and a waving gesture. Detecting circles from a digital image is very important in applications such as those involving shape recognition. The most well-known methods for accomplishing circle detection involve application of the Generalized Hough Transform (HT). However, the input of Hough Transform-based circle detection algorithms is a two-dimensional image, i.e. a matrix of pixel intensities. Similarly, prior methods of detecting of a waving motion in a series of images, such as a video sequence, have been limited to using time series of intensity values. One method of detecting the motion of a waving hand involves detecting a periodic intensity change with a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Methods of detecting a gesture, such as a circular shape or a waving motion, from a set of ordered points have not been forthcoming.